Antelogium
by fugacior
Summary: More than a hundred years ago, a war has been commenced among the eternal. More than a hundred years later, a prognostic has been portended.
1. fine agreement

To anyone who still has the chances to survive, who's willing to live, and whose lives aren't about to end just yet,

You may think it's inconvenient to discuss any matter involving spirits and other inhuman beings who lived beyond the world where we belong. Manipulative and abhorrent, they hide their hideous true forms and deceitful motives beneath _faux_ disguises—in this case, the original state which they used as a base to create their false forms no longer existed ever since centuries have been passed from the day they were, let's say, 'marked'. The utmost important is not to let your guard down, to keep your senses open wide, and to stay alive.

Beware of the undead, because they might be closer than you thought they would _ever_ be.

—2625

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**Antelogium**

**Kuroko no Basket **©** Fujimaki Tadatoshi**

_scene 1_

**{** fine agreement **}**

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"You came late."

A round table for five had been set since three hours ago, yet the last guest arrived. A blond haired twenty-something man in a frock coat with a light grey waistcoat and a top hat barged in soaking wet—the downpour had been showering his way onto the small hut where an important meeting would be held. He panted heavily as he hanged his coat and hat at the holder before he took a seat.

"Well, if it isn't Merlin the dandy," a green-haired man in his dark morning coat and glasses quipped. "I suppose your rituals have gone awry because of the terrible weather, _nanodayo_?"

He rolled his eyes exasperatedly hearing the satirical comment. "Mantras are crucial to start the day in order to replenish my powers, even a bad weather cannot stop me from what I was doing. This is all a matter of time, _ssu_."

"No surprise—you didn't even use your witch cloak like every magician usually wears," a tanned man in a Western wear and brown boots scoffed, to which the blond glowered at him scornfully in return.

"I'm still starving… Can I have seconds, please?" a tall man with shoulder length hair yawned.

"Oh, wait, don't magicians usually grow long beard until it reaches their foot?" the tanned man mocked. "I mean, you're, like, more than a hundred years old, yet you don't even wrinkle. How many freaking _centuries_ you need to make yourself look old as a hag?"

"Is this a way of saying that you want to be a volunteer of one of my recently mastered curses, Aominecchi?" the blond growled at the tanned man. "I will give you a swift demonstration, but I won't guarantee the side effect will revert soon enough, _ssu_."

"Go ahead while I quickly transform myself and rip your head off before you can even cast a spell."

"I don't need any of you to slaughter each other now, dimwits," the man in the morning coat expressed his discontent. "Or do I need to split you both by force, _nanodayo_?"

Meanwhile, a fine looking red-haired man wrapped in a Victorian suit had finished his meal as his guests bickered and/or showed a sign of possibility to wreak havoc. He stood up, grabbed his wooden staff, and tapped it at the floor, once one of his fiery irises began to change into bright gold. A great force of obscurity filled the room, as the aura began to fill itself with darkness.

"Be quiet."

And with that, nobody tried to mess with anybody anymore.

"I gather you all here in one purpose, and it is not to perform preposterous actions in order to eliminate one another, is that clear?" he asked in a composed tone. "We still have a lot of time for that."

"I'm sorry, Akashicchi."

"Forgive my impudent behaviour."

"Che."

He returned to his seat, The grandfather clock ticked as minutes had passed, nevertheless not a word had come out from anyone. Not before the red-head, Akashi, commanded the blond, "Ryouta, would you please serve the tea for all of us?"

"… Eh?"

"Use your magic if you're too lazy."

"That reason is too trivial, Akashic—"

When Akashi's hand nearly reached for his staff one more time, Kise quickly recited a spell under his breath and flicked his fingers—five cups were filled with warm Earl Grey tea added with two spoonful of sugar along with its small plates as it flew to the direction of the table and landed themselves in front of each person circling there.

"Thank you for your help."

As some of them sipped their tea, Akashi cleared his throat and opened the 'general forum'. He spoke, "Before we begin, let me explain our purpose here: to commence war. From here, I hereby declare a battle against our kinds, in order to make others acknowledge which one of us is worthy to celebrate triumph against humanity. To this date, we live as immortals—only the great forces from above can take our souls. But right now, not one mortal can bring us to our deaths as their attempts would be nothing but futile."

Not one had spoken or given any responses yet.

"Each of us represents only few of numerous kinds with special abilities compared to that of a mortal being," Akashi continued. "We have magic practicioners, shapeshifters, revenants, parahumans, and entities of the dark. Those are just general references, since there might be another category of creature out of any acknowledgement so far."

"I… don't get what you mean," Kise tilted his head, confused.

"Can you explain to him what I mean, Shintarou?"

"What Akashi means is that there are various kinds of… humans with inhuman abilities," Midorima Shintarou, the man in the morning coat, expounded. "These creatures need some sort of media to regenerate their genetics or to transfer their powers and/or abilities, and that media is human beings. In short, there will be a battle amongst those various kinds of creatures in order to survive, as well as to reign above other kinds."

"That means, if one of us were able to control humans the most wins, am I right?" Aomine, the man in the Western wear, concluded.

"At least, you're getting close to the point, Daiki," Akashi added. "For instance, I, as a demon, use my powers as an entity of the dark to undermine humans under my influence as to make them follow my orders, before they decide to turn into a follower of the demon cult permanently under several circumstances."

He sipped his tea, carrying out the topic, "Some beings have the ability to turn humans into their own kind, such as vampires and werewolves. You (whilst pointing at Midorima and Aomine) both affect humans through their blood—by only biting them, you can change them into either a vampire or a werewolf. While in some cases, there needs to be a media of transfer from the kind, such as Ryouta with his magic and spellcraft as well as Atsushi with his epidemic microorganisms, but it's different from me since in my case the affected humans can only be called as a worshipper—demons existed for so long, and there is not a way to regenerate or transfer the abilities of a demon to turn a human into its kind."

"Still, what can a demon worshipper do? I mean, they're just humans who profess demons as their deities, right?" Murasakibara, the shoulder length haired man threw a question. "Their capabilities emerge only if they were possessed, in my opinion."

"That is not wrong, Atsushi," said demon replied. "Demon worshippers are nothing but mortals after all, yet if they wished for a power, they only need to do a sacral ceremony to summon a demon who can grant their desire through possession. It will only last temporary, hence a human's body cannot resist the strong presence of a demon meddling them in a long time."

All of the cups were almost empty. Akashi smiled, saying, "What do you say, gentlemen? The next century will soon arrive, and humans will develop something beyond our time. I have forboded the birth of a human that will be the key to the core of humanity—meaning if any of us managed to discover and use them, it will be an instant victory."

"A human that will be the core…?" Kise repeated, as he suddenly reminded of something. "Wait, wait, I think I have ever heard of it—two days ago, I came to a sensing that in the century where mankind lives under their most magnificent creation of systems, a human will be born as the great messenger, the one who will determine a large part of humanity's fate."

"Heh, so it's some kind of a representative of the whole mortal human beings?" Aomine asserted. "If we found them and turned them into our kind, then that would be easy."

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy, _nanodayo_," Midorima refuted. "If there is not a clear sign of their presence, then how would we know if someone were the key or not?"

"Chill, I'm just joking."

"Ahaha, sounds ludicrous, Aho-mine. I would chortle at any moment now."

"Gentlemen?"

Akashi furthermore demand of approval silenced them. An upward curve appeared in his face. He continued, "If any of you agreed to join me in this soon-to-be fierce battle against the immortals, I need your assistance. I only need a simple 'yes' or a 'no'—in that way only the participants have the rights to acquire what they want in the future."

It took a minute for them to think before they came to a closure, with each announced their decisions after Akashi's offer.

"Count me in, _ssu_," Kise nodded willingly.

"Bring it on," Aomine smirked.

"I won't miss this for the sake of my kind, _nanodayo_," Midorima agreed.

"I'm on it," Murasakibara followed.

Akashi chuckled lightly hearing all of his acquaintances' answers. He then stood up from his chair before he let his guests leave the hut.

"Good. Let us meet again in the next century," he ended the conversation. "Meeting dismissed."

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**A/N:** A oneshot (this time, made as a twoshot) based on an AU I've been working called Bellum Inmortalium (war of the immortals). This is just some sort of a prologue behind the whole storyline, while there needs to be a lot of background developments and not everyone's roles have been determined yet.

A furthermore explanation of Bellum Inmortalium can be found at my writing blog, 104th . co . vu. Last but not least, pardon me for any mistakes above and if anyone could correct it for me, I would be grateful for your kindness.


	2. tantibus

To: ?

From: FALSER NINE

They're coming to get you.

You can hear them coming closer to you.

The only thing you can do is

[_message interrupted_]

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**Antelogium**

**Kuroko no Basket **©** Fujimaki Tadatoshi**

_scene 2_

**{** tantibus** }**

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Kuroko Tetsuya is an ordinary man living in the 21st century.

A university student majoring psychology, a part-time worker as a substitute teacher at a preschool not far from his campus, as well as a person who stays in a loft for two along with his roommate who happens to be his close friend ever since high school, he lives a genuinely normal life likewise people around him. He has never experienced peculiarity, especially if it involves anything superstitious (Let alone, he never believes anything which revolves around superstition and such things beyond human's rationality).

Put it simply, his life is nothing but common.

Another day has been passed, and another weekend is about to arrive. The bluenette has gotten back to his home after a long day taking care of the kids, but no one is there. Probably, his roommate must have spent hours at the basketball court again playing by himself. He doesn't feel like he should pick him up (moreover, he is certain that his roommate would've asked him to do a one-on-one with him), so he chooses to wait.

He drops himself on the bed as he gets to his room, wondering for how long he has to stay awake. The clock shows 8.37 p.m, yet he shows no sign of drowsiness yet. He usually feels tired at around 30 minutes before 9 p.m, but his eyes are wide open although the temperature is cold enough to doze off his sight. It must be because of the accidental switch happened earlier that day—the waiter who should've taken care of his vanilla shake takeaway order mistakenly brought a glass of affogato (at least it was Kuroko's presumption behind the waiter's sloppiness), but when he noticed a torn paper which was written "on the house, recommended from the barista" (he thought it was from the cafe), he realized that it wasn't just a coincidence. In the end, he didn't mind his milkshake and decided to take several sips.

Twenty minutes have passed, and he doesn't feel anything at all. An urge tells him to turn on the television, and so he goes to the living room. He wonders why his roommate hasn't come back—it is uncommon to be in a situation where he is all by himself. He should've been back by now, says his heart to his mind. As he lays his hand to the remote control and presses the button, the channel which comes out briefly displays odd images in a pitch black screen. Some of which he recognizes—a pentagram, a levitated person under the symbol which is drawn with chalk and circled with candles, another person which is engulfed in white smoke, a swiftly wind-like moving red spirit…

… and a pair of glowing, heterochromic eyes.

Wait, has he ever seen it somewhere?

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"What do you say, gentlemen?"

He may be unable to have a better view of the scene as his eyelids begin to feel heavy, but his ears can listen the sound of the calm, resilient voice from the television. The screen is no longer pitch black, as he can see five figures sitting in a circle of a round table, although the image is distorted and monochromatic, similar to earlier unsuccessful silent films in the early 20th century.

"The next century will soon arrive, and humans will develop something beyond our time," the voice continues. "I have forboded the birth of a human that will be the key to the core of humanity—meaning if any of us managed to discover and use them, it will be an instant victory."

_A human that will be the key to the core of humanity?_ Kuroko questions to himself. _It's as if the apocalypse would arrive in the near future… Or is this the beginning of a conspiracy of a world war, an infliction of global issues which have been burdens that need to be exterminated in order to achieve total control and domination?_

"Wait, wait, I think I have ever heard of it—two days ago, I came to a sensing that in the century where mankind lives under their most magnificent creation of systems, a human will be born as the great messenger, the one who will determine a large part of humanity's fate."

Another voice reacts to the statement, an addition that may have given some hint to Kuroko of the presented problematics of some sort. He comes to an idea in which he refuses to believe, but as the conversation goes on, it gets even more real. A blunt, straight-forward remark might explain the whole context.

"Heh, so it's some kind of a representative of the whole mortal human beings?"

So the keywords he need to bold and underline on his head so far are key, humans (especially 'mortals'), and fate. He connects in one by one, creating hypothesis and constructing conflicts as well as popping out queries—what kind of danger will the humans face, who is this mystery key which the people on the screen mentioned about, and what does the key possess that could control the whole humanity?

Before he gets to the moment where he tries to search for the answers, the screen turns into bright white—more exactly to be said, a bright white room. A person stands in the middle wearing a cloak resembling that of an apartheid cult, his face is covered with a white mask. He lifts his right hand up and out of nowhere, a knife appears (even Kuroko doesn't blink when he sees it coming out in a second). The person turns around where the clean wall is right behind him, then he takes out the knife and carves a large slit on it.

Kuroko's pupils slowly dilate as blood streams down through the slit on the wall, similar to a skin's open wound after being teared open with a sharp object. But it is just the beginning of the nightmare—of course, the bluenette would be lying if he didn't see an arm coming out of the slit. A body, covered in blood-red liquid, frees itself from the space made from the carve and drops itself onto the ground…

… as it shrinks and deforms into an animal.

It is a crossbreed between a large wild canine and an unidentified monster, Kuroko presumes. He has never seen the creature before, not even the beasts which he saw in the books he has ever read bear a close resemblance with it. The creature then immediately leaps onto the cloaked man and attacks him by biting his neck. It turns into a bloody fight, as the man assails the creature's legs using his knife. Limbs are falling, howls and cries are heard… the gruesome show triggers fear and pain in one horrifying sight.

In the end, the man wins. He takes out the creature's head and puts it in a plastic bag. Using the creature's smeared blood, he writes a message on an empty wall to an obvious recipient;

'I WILL GET YOU. YOU WILL BE MINE FOR GOOD.'

Before Kuroko comes to his senses completely, an arm strangles his head from the back and grabs it tight. He struggles to breathe, his eyes widen in horror, his heart beats so rapid he could feel like a heart attack is about to come at anytime. Suddenly, he feels something penetrates through his neck, something sharp which inflicts a very stinging pain. He wants to scream, but nothing comes out of his mouth. He could feel his blood flowing… and something wet licks it off as it brushes his neck. It nauseates him, making him feel repugnant. Yet, he couldn't stop himself from letting this thing sucking off his blood as it drains the energy inside of him. Let it be a slow end of his fate, since it is too late for him to change everything

_I wish I've had known of this earlier…_

* * *

"Kuroko? Kuroko?! Are you okay?"

When he finds out he is trembling while clinging onto a large arm which lies next to him, Kuroko realizes that everything was just a dream. His roommate has returned and is very concerned—when he saw Kuroko stifling and having odd seizures, he tries to wake him off while assuring himself that Kuroko will be alright. Luckily, it doesn't last for long.

"Kagami-kun…"

Kagami Taiga, Kuroko's roommate, immediately regrets his decision of leaving his roommate alone until late at that day. If he went home earlier, he would've at least make sure that Kuroko wouldn't have to go through such horrid halucination in his subconsiousness. He then constantly reminds himself that he shouldn't be too selfish next time.

"What's wrong, Kuroko?" he asks in a worried tone.

The younger male purses his lips. "Nothing, Kagami-kun. It's just a nightmare. I'm okay."

"Perhaps, from what I've seen, it's not _just_ a nightmare," Kagami retorts. "Did something happen today that caused you unable to breathe as you sleep?"

He silences for a while hearing the question. Kagami sighs as he gets off the bed, murmuring, "I will make you a tea to get you talking."

"Wait, you don't have to."

The red-head retreats from the door when he is about to leave the bed, then he sits back as Kuroko starts telling the whole sequences of the bizzare yet frightening dream. He also mentions the things he listened in the television, something about 'key', 'mortals', and 'humanity's fate' which leads to a great momentum. Throughout the story, Kagami squints his eyes in disbelief, even he doesn't want to believe the reasons hinted.

"Do you think this might be a sign?" Kuroko asks. "This is made intentional so that they want me to notice. Would that make sense?"

Kagami replies it with a light scoff. "You don't need to mind it, Kuroko. It happened once, and it won't ever happen again. It only occurs in rare occasions, and you need to do something to get rid off those crazy slashers from your head."

"I will definitely do. Thank you, Kagami-kun."

"Glad to help you out."

The two then goes off to bed as the time shows 9.26 p.m. This time, Kuroko doesn't dream of anything anymore. He sleeps soundingly in comfort and silence…

… of course, without noticing a pair of heterochromic eyes glow out on the window.

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**A/N**: I think this could be an extension in the timeline right after Kiseki no Sedai gathered. For me, it feels incomplete without adding what may have been the start of the war post-declaration (although it might be too short since I'm not going for the whole details and stuff...)


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